Aiming For Gardening Perfection Or Gardening Excellence?

While waiting for the coffee to brew this morning,  I caught up with email.  As I read, I came across this quote by John Gardner , "Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach."  After finishing reading that quote,  I grabbed the cup of coffee and headed out to the patio to just sit and enjoy the garden.

(Note:  Every now and then I get philosophical especially when I sit and look at the garden while drinking a cup of coffee. Consider this as they say in the medical biz, your informed consent.)

As a gardener we want to continue gardening no matter the circumstance.

Some days  many of us, me included, cross over the line of wanting to continue gardening and wanting magazine perfect gardening.

Picture perfect yards, balconies and flowers or _________(you fill in the blank).

Then the realities of life, time, money, energy, space, physical capabilities interfere. We evaluate our results. Feel our sore backs or aching knees. See our gardening space as too large or too small to do what we want. And think we can't garden.

We get discouraged and give up gardening. The focus goes to what we think we 'should' do instead of viewing gardening as a path to excellence.

Some seasons will be better than others, thing will grow beautifully. Other days will  be too long, too short, too hot, too dry. No matter.  In gardening there are way too many things outside of our control.

My take? Don't be a perfectionist or you will never be happy.  Cultivate your way of gardening. You can still garden your style, your way, and your space.  Achieve your excellence.

So how do you become an unstoppable gardener?

• Avoid the trials of perfection. Most of us fail to achieve perfection, then get discouraged or frustrated.
• Consider excellence in your experience. Do the best you can, in this moment, at this place.
• There are many wasy to make gardening fit your life.  Adaptive gardening, enabled gardening, accessible gardening, raised bed gardening, vertical gardening and container gardening are just a few.

Continue on the journey of excellence-your way. Then you too can call yourself an  unstoppable gardener. Because it's

 All in a gardener's day,

PS Share your story about unstoppable gardening. Whether it's your story, a friend's or one you heard, add your comments here.

Tip of the hat to Mark Joyner for passing along the quote, to Alejandro Heredia for the photo of the beautiful garden, and to Mari Carmen Guinovart for the photo of the ornate frame.